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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

"Red Dog" review

A movie based on the legendary true story of the charismatic kelpie who united a disparate local mining community in the 1970s and 80s while roaming the Australian outback in search of his long lost master.

Not a great movie, by any means but it will enter the folklore of the Australian outback! The best actor was the dog -

Stars:

Josh Lucas, Rachael Taylor and Noah Taylor and given a Ratings: 7.4/10 from 4,670 users .

The movie is based on a true story and seems to be an arrangement of different stories about "Red" that were put together to make a movie of the life of the dog. Secondary plot of a romance between Josh Lucas and Rachael Taylor.

The story is mainly based in the Iron Ore exporting port of Dampier West Australia and for those unfamiliar with that part of Australia the stark red dust scenery alone is worth viewing the movie.

The story starts with Red Dog dying as a result of eating a strychnine bait and proceeds with various members of the community telling their recollections of events surrounding this kelpie.

An Australian red kelpie is a very interesting type of dog. Some say that the Jack Russell terrier is the most intelligent dog of all dogs (and having owned one for 16 years, I don't doubt that) but the red kelpie is also a breed apart - deductive, attuned to human emotions and cunning they are something special. I know graziers who would have nothing other than a red kelpie.

The penultimate scene is with the mining group paying a rousing tribute to Red Dog and the life they lead:

Way out west where the rain don't fallGot a job with the companyDrilling for oilJust to make some changeLiving and a`working on the land

I quit my job and I left my wifeHeaded out west for a brand new lifeJust to get awayLiving and a`working on the landUnbeknown to them Red Dog struggles off his death bed and leaves the pub - what follows then .... well, I'm not going to spoil a good ending.

As I said - not a great movie but one that will go into the archives of Australian film lore!

Tough as old boots, John! Work their guts out on farms herding sheep or cattle, never complain, will eat anything the farmer throws their way and at the end of the day they'll just curl up as close the camp fire as they can get. On the farm their home is an old oil drum or a hollowed out log and mostly they are chained up. A good working dog's pups go for around $500-$700AUS (each).

Kobe aka "Red Dog" in the film was carrying far too much conditioning for a decent kelpie. Usually they are kept lean and hungry. They are medium-sized dogs and come in a variety of colours. Kelpies have been exported throughout the world and are used to muster livestock, primarily sheep, cattle and goats.

Working Kelpies are bred for working ability rather than appearance.

Wikipaedia says The first "Kelpie" was a black and tan female pup with floppy ears bought by Jack Gleeson about 1872 from a litter born on Warrock Station near Casterton, owned by George Robertson, a Scot. This dog was named after the mythological kelpie from Celtic folklore.[ Legend has it[says who?] that "Kelpie" was sired by a dingo, but there is little evidence for or against this. In later years she was referred to as "(Gleeson's) Kelpie", to differentiate her from "(King's) Kelpie", her daughter.

btw - they used six red kelpie dogs in shooting that film - Kobe did all the close-up work.

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About Me

Born and raised mostly in Sydney, moved to the ACT in 1973 and stayed there and raised a family until 1992. With an empty nest we fled to the Far South Coast of NSW where I worked for five years until I accepted an offer to return and work in the ACT. I bought a house near the ACT from where I commuted to Canberra for work and home to the Far South Coast on weekends. Eventually this took its toll on me and we sold our little home at 'the coast' and made our permanent home on the Tablelands I've since semi-retired and I like to occupy myself around the home and I like staying at our little rural retreat - The Camp, at Wyangala. My wife still works, tho looking forward to retirement